25 March 2004 Edition

The Vice President of Colombia could not escape the case of the Colombia Three on his visit to Ireland this week. Francisco Santos faced a barrage of criticism from Senators and TDs from across the political divide in Leinster House on Tuesday during a meeting with the All-Party Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs. In a separate meeting with international observers who attended the trial of the three Irishmen charged with training FARC guerrillas, Santos was challenged for the inordinate delay in the Colombian court delivering a verdict. It is now eight months since the trial ended and Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and Jim Monaghan have been jailed in Colombia for nearly three years. Free article

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams MP was in Dublin on Wednesday as part of a series of public meetings across the city. He said that in talks on Tuesday, Sinn Féin put proposals to the two governments regarding the need for a two-pronged approach to the current difficulties in the process. Free article

"We are witnessing the final days, weeks, months of the Paisley leadership," Sinn Féin's Chief Negotiator Martin McGuinness told Washington's Council for Foreign Relations last week. "The new DUP leadership is young and intelligent. It is not lost on them that Sinn Féin was within 15,000 votes of becoming the biggest party in the North." McGuinness had travelled to Washington to join other Irish political leaders attending the traditional St Patrick's Day celebration at the White House. Free article

Sinn Féin is calling on Six-County voters to ensure they have re-registered with the Electoral Office before the upcoming 8 April deadline for European elections. Under the British Government's controversial new legislation - the Electoral Fraud Act (NI) 2002 - voters must re-register every single year in order to be listed on the electoral register and be able to claim their right to vote coming polling day. Free article

British attempts to curtail full disclosure of state collusion continued this week, with British law lords ruling that European Union law has no jurisdiction in relation to a series of controversial killings that took place before 2000. The decision threatens the ability of any new inquiries tasked with establishing the truth about state collusion. Free article

Due to the hard work of organisers and the generousity and support of the public, this year's St Patrick's Day celebrations in Belfast city centre have been hailed as "the biggest yet". Nearly 30,000 people turned out to enjoy the St Patrick's Day concert held outside Belfast City Hall last Wednesday. The line-up included international recording stars Girls Aloud, Wot Next and former Pogues frontman, Shane MacGowan. Free article

Sinn Féin Vice President Pat Doherty is pictured with London Mayor Ken Livingstone. The West Tyrone MP was Livingstone's guest at both the Mayor's Dinner on 13 March and at the London St Patrick's Day Parade and Festival on 14 March.
Doherty also hosted a Westminster Reception for MPs and representatives of the Irish community in Britain on 16 March and attended an Irish Embassy National Day Reception on 17 March. Free article